Harris to speak on 'Finance in a Dodd-Frank World' Nov. 2 in Lender

10.26.11

Jeffrey Harris, Dean’s Professor of Finance in the Whitman School, will deliver a lecture, “Finance in a Dodd-Frank World,” on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Harris recently served as chief economist at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The lecture will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Lender Auditorium. It is free and open to the public. Paid parking is available in the University Avenue Garage.

Harris teaches investments and derivatives courses and has an extensive background in market microstructure and regulatory issues. His lecture will explore the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed in July 2010 by Congress and the Obama administration, which promotes the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, protects American taxpayers by ending bailouts and protects consumers from abusive financial services practices, among other regulations.

Harris will explore the following questions during his lecture:

What does Dodd-Frank mean for risk management?

Will Dodd-Frank improve transparency or impede trade?

What does Dodd-Frank mean for retail investors?

“These are interesting times in the world of finance and I hope to expose students to the complex issues related to modern finance. Derivatives that are designed to manage and contain risk continue to be misconstrued and misunderstood, and yet these instruments are only as effective as the people who utilize them,” says Harris.

Harris, who conducted previous regulatory work as a visiting academic fellow at the Nasdaq and visiting academic scholar at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, held faculty appointments at Southern Methodist University, the University of Delaware, the University of Notre Dame and The Ohio State University prior to joining Whitman.

His extensive research on financial markets has appeared in the Energy Journal, Financial Management, the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Futures Markets, the Journal of Investment Management, the Journal of Financial Economics and the Review of Financial Studies.